On Friday 24th May, as one of the last acts of the now dissolved parliament, the much awaited ‘Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024’ received Royal Assent and became law.
But this is not the end of the process.
Now we have to wait for the general election and the new Government to be formed. Then and only then can the newly appointed Secretary of State go through the final procedures for the Act to become operable.
In April 2024, the Department of Levelling up Housing and Communities was predicting that after receiving Royal Assent, the next step of the process including ‘drafting and laying the secondary legislation required the bring the reforms into force’, would take some time to implement.
At that time they anticipated that the ‘majority of the reforms will come into effect in 2025 – 2026.’
However they do confirm that… ‘With regard to the new enfranchisement valuation scheme, rest assured that we will commence all parts of this as soon as reasonably possible after the Bill receives Royal Assent so that leaseholders extending their lease or acquiring their freehold can benefit from these reforms’.
They also advise that Leaseholders should continue to seek professional advice on their particular circumstances.
At this stage there is no indication if the new valuation scheme will be implemented as soon as possible after the new Government is in place. We will have to wait to see what they propose after 5th July 2024.
The leasehold reforms have taken a long time to progress. The Bill only just made it to Royal Assent. Now there is yet more delay and un-certainty.
Once the new Government is in place we will know more about the timing and progress of the final parts of this much awaited legislation.